


Coming Clean

by LissaMU



Series: Coming Clean/Getting Dirty [1]
Category: Pride and Prejudice & Related Fandoms, Pride and Prejudice (1995), Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, American Elizabeth, English Darcy, F/M, Shenanigans in the laundry room
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 12:12:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16912656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LissaMU/pseuds/LissaMU
Summary: Elizabeth Bennet finds that laundry day becomes much more interesting when the attractive new tenant, William Darcy, moves in, but what's taking him so long to make a move?





	Coming Clean

**Author's Note:**

> This was written in response to a challenge, possibly at Firthness, to write a story around the sentence, 'I’ve always had a thing for women who hate me.' It also has a sequel, which I'll post in a few days!

Elizabeth Bennet entered the laundry room of her apartment building and set her overflowing laundry basket on the nearest table. She was usually the only user of the laundry at this time on a Wednesday night, so she was surprised to hear muffled cursing coming from the other side of her clothes pile.

'Bollocks, bollocks, bollocks.'

Elizabeth peered around the laundry to see the back of a tall man who was obviously not getting along with the washing machine. 'Excuse me,' Elizabeth interrupted, walking over to him.

He turned her way, unconsciously looking her over and assessing her. _Lovely. Great legs. Are those boxer shorts?_ His head shot up when he realised that she was talking to him.

'Sorry?' he asked, embarrassed at being caught staring. 'What did you say?'

Elizabeth drooled inwardly when she heard him speak. _Oh God, he's English. Oh God, oh God, oh God! OK Lizzy, calm down… just because he has an accent doesn't mean you should throw yourself at him_ , she tried telling herself. _Yeah, but it doesn't hurt that he's really hot too_ , argued another part.

'I said, do you need any help?'

He smiled sheepishly and nodded. 'Yes, please. I've never had to use one of these before.'

She looked at him in shock. 'You've never washed clothes before?' she questioned incredulously as she began sorting his whites and colours.

'Well, erm, no, you see… in England we had a maid who did the washing,' he replied with embarrassment as he helped her sort. 'My name is William by the way. William Darcy.'

'Elizabeth Bennet. Have you been living here long?'

'No, not at all. I moved into 502 just this week. I was transferred here from London. You?'

'I've been in this building for two years, number 320.' They continued to chat amiably while they loaded his clothes and then hers, while the clothes washed, and while they dried. Not only was poor Darcy completely inept at using household appliances, his folding skills left much to be desired, so Elizabeth had to give him a hand with that as well. Two hours after they met, they were laughing and talking like old friends as they waited for the elevator.

'Thank you so much for your help Elizabeth. If you hadn't rescued me, I would probably still be trying to figure out the bloody washer. Um…' he seemed hesitant to speak more. Elizabeth's breath hitched slightly; was he going to ask her out? 'I was wondering if… you could help me again next week? I'm certain I'll forget everything you showed me.' She smiled, trying to hide her disappointment.

'Yeah, of course. Just knock on my door or something.'

'Thanks so much. See you then. Good night!' She stepped off on her floor and waved before turning the corner towards her apartment.

'Great,' Elizabeth sighed, 'he just wants me for my detergent.' With a rueful chuckle, she entered her apartment and began to put away her clean clothes.

Darcy, meanwhile, lay back on his bed, clothes forgotten on the floor. He was partially kicking himself for having been so stupid as to ask Elizabeth to help him with laundry instead of asking her out, but he was also reliving the two hours they had spent together. He had never gotten on so quickly with a woman, particularly one to whom he was so attracted; even now he groaned with sexual frustration as he thought of her legs in those little shorts. And some of the undergarments he had helped her sort! Oh yes, Elizabeth Bennet in some of her more appealing laundry items would be playing a key role in his night-time fantasy life from now on, he was quite sure of it.

Over the next week, they would occasionally bump into each other in the building and exchange a friendly smile and greeting, but they didn't spend any time together again until he knocked on her door the next Wednesday evening with laundry basket in tow. This time he was a bit more independent, having already sorted the colours and being able to put the quarters in the appropriate place; water temperature selection was still a bit beyond him, but Elizabeth guided him in the right direction, and he was even able to set the dryer himself. Again, they chatted, becoming ever more flirtatious, with Elizabeth going so far as to hint that she was _very_ single. Again, nothing came of it though, and this time he didn't even ask to do laundry with her the following week.

Within a couple of weeks, Elizabeth's disappointment was checked when he religiously showed up in the laundry room every time she was there. He no longer needed much assistance, but he did seem to always go at the same time by design. Still, it never went any further than a strong flirtation. When Elizabeth went to knock on William's door one day and saw him in a warm embrace with a tall blonde who, judging by the bag at her feet, was obviously intending to stay the night, she completely began to give up hope that anything more than friendship was possible with him.

_OK, he has a long-distance girlfriend whom he rarely sees, so he thinks it's harmless to have this little flirtation with me. I can deal with that, it's fine, we'll just be friends_ , she tried telling herself, but with each laundry 'date' they had, her feelings for him were growing stronger, not to mention her lust. She knew she was on her way to some major hurt if this kept up, but she couldn't stop herself from doing her laundry every Wednesday evening at the same time in the hopes that he would join her, as he inevitably did. She looked forward to it each week for over two months; then, one awful Tuesday, it happened.

She stepped out of her apartment and called for the elevator, then, realising that she had forgotten her wallet, ran back in to grab it. The elevator came while she was inside, and the doors were closing as she was fiddling with her keys to lock the door. Figuring she would just wait for the next one, Elizabeth didn't hurry, but she did look up just as the doors were closing, and saw William standing there, laundry basket and detergent in hand, on his way to the basement. The only thing he saw before going down was the wounded look on her face as she stared at the pile of clothes in his hand.

Any hope of a relationship with William was now gone. He had never been interested in the first place, she decided, and now he had even grown weary of their friendship. Why else would he snub her in their only interaction: their laundry night? Elizabeth refused to let the tears that welled up in her eyes fall when she went downstairs the next night to do her laundry alone.

She was just about done sorting when she heard footsteps coming down the hall but didn't bother to look up because she knew it couldn't be William, and she didn't want to know who would be taking his place tonight. Whoever it was came into the room and closed the door, but Elizabeth's attention wasn't roused until she heard a click that indicated that the door was now locked. When she looked up, she was shocked to see that it was in fact William who had come and locked them in.

'William! This is a surprise. What are you doing here? And why did you lock the door?' William didn't say a word; instead, he took her clothes and put them into the washing machine, put in detergent, shut the door, and started it. Then with a predatory gleam in his eye, he picked Elizabeth up and sat her on top of the machine. Before she could open her mouth to protest, he had trapped it with a passionate kiss.

As Elizabeth slowly began to realise what was going on through her haze of desire, she began to respond to his passion in kind, wrapping her legs around his waist to pull him closer. He growled approvingly, running his hands up and down her legs as he had wanted to do since he first met her.

'I thought you had a girlfriend,' Elizabeth panted when he began attacking her throat. 'That blonde who came to stay with you.'

'That was my sister. I don't have a girlfriend… yet.'

She smiled at his meaning. 'Why haven't you ever done anything before? I thought you weren't interested in me.'

'Oh, I was interested. I've been fantasising about you since the night we met.'

'Then why didn't you say anything?'

'Because,' he answered, pulling off her tank top, 'I fancied you the moment I saw you, but you were really only friendly. So, I decided to flirt and string you along until you wanted _me_ as much as I wanted _you_.'

Elizabeth frowned and pouted. 'You bastard! That was very mean of you. I hate you,' she complained petulantly.

William smiled and pulled her tightly against his body, then pulled her protruding lip between his teeth. 'Good. I've always had a thing for women who hate me.' Elizabeth's throaty laughter served as an additional turn-on for William, who really didn't need much more help anyway. The rest of their clothes were on the floor before the washer was done filling with water, and the combination of the machine's vibrations and William's penetrating thrusts drove Elizabeth over the edge again and again. William finally collapsed against her by the time the spin cycle was done.

Elizabeth held William against her and feathered his damp forehead with kisses while he gently stroked her bare back with his fingertips. The machine eventually stopped its rocking, and William calmly picked Elizabeth up and set her on the floor. Without bothering to even put his shorts on, he took Elizabeth's clothes out of the washer, put them in the dryer, and started it, much to Elizabeth's amusement.

'This is very considerate of you William,' she teased. William shook his head and pulled her close again, showing her that his arousal was back full force.

'I couldn't care less about your clothes,' he countered, placing her atop the dryer and penetrating her again. 'I just thought it would be a waste to fuck you on the dryer without it actually running.'

Outside the laundry room, the very confused elderly resident of apartment 203 tried in vain to open the door. 'Durn thing must be stuck again,' she grumbled to herself. 'I'd better get the super before he goes to bed, or whoever has the laundry in there will be stuck without clothes till morning…'


End file.
